Did anyone see Dispatches last night?

[Perry]

It showed just how badly our parcels are treated. Definitely made me think twice about sending/receiving a guitar/bass in the post.

[neepheid]

[quote name='Perry' timestamp='1367307473' post='2063845']
It showed just how badly our parcels are treated. Definitely made me think twice about sending/receiving a guitar/bass in the post.
[/quote]

Recorded, will watch soon. Not surprised by anything I saw in the ad. That's why I make my parcels as bombproof as I can. The trick as far as I'm concerned is to make sure nothing moves inside the box, all padded out to hell with as much soft stuff as I can pack in without risking bursting the box.

Don't skimp on insurance either, and check all the small print for exclusions.

But don't be scared of sending stuff. I live in the sticks and need people not to be scared of sending basses otherwise my GAS will cause an explosion I've sent and received probably approaching 25 basses without incident. I'd like to have seen them try to kick my Victory Artist about the depot - they'd break a toe

[Geek99]

Yep - always prefer meet / collect for this reason
Ever since parcel force completely f£&ked my prose bass and wouldn't pay up

[neepheid]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1367308252' post='2063857']
Yep - always prefer meet / collect for this reason
Ever since parcel force completely f£&ked my prose bass and wouldn't pay up
[/quote]

Parcelforce exclude instruments from insurance, but will happily sell you it. NEVER USE PARCELFORCE TO SEND INSTRUMENTS.

Also, keep at them, harass them until they give in. Insurance wouldn't be necessary if they did their job right. They probably mis-sold you the insurance - did they ask you what was in the parcel? Small claims court? It isn't over unless you give up.

[RandomBass]

I missed that, probably a good thing lol, will see if it's on one of those new fangled Internet player thingies. So far I have been lucky sending and receiving instruments, mostly using UPS.

[Geek99]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1367308544' post='2063862']


Parcelforce exclude instruments from insurance, but will happily sell you it. NEVER USE PARCELFORCE TO SEND INSTRUMENTS.

Also, keep at them, harass them until they give in. Insurance wouldn't be necessary if they did their job right. They probably mis-sold you the insurance - did they ask you what was in the parcel? Small claims court? It isn't over unless you give up.
[/quote]

They didnt ask what was in it, but the terms and conditions are on the web site if you look hard enough. It's a 50:50 in court at best, you'd win if you got the right judge on the day. The law is clear here, Thompson v SMG railways

The receipt you get refers you to t and c statement. If you don't read it, it's your fault. Year one law degree stuff.

[Urban Bassman]

I would think that UK Mail will see a large drop in people using them. I sell stuff on ebay from time to time and to date I've not had a problem but I doubt I'll ever use UK Mail again. I guess they are one of the cheapest for a reason and now we know why - they don't give a damn.

[KevB]

Sent and received music gear using parcelforce with no problems at all so far. Not quite true that they don't insure instruments but they have a limit of £200 value (or did the last time I checked, been a while) which is obviously too low for a lot of basses. I've always tried to meet people in person for handovers if only to avoid all the tiresome packing.

[Geek99]

[quote name='Urban Bassman' timestamp='1367310030' post='2063884']
I would think that UK Mail will see a large drop in people using them.
[/quote]
And deservedly so

[BigRedX]

Regarding terms and conditions of carrier services has anyone actually taken the time to look at them?

Just looking at the list of excluded items on the Interparcel web site. On of them is as follows:

[list]
[*][color=#000000]Magnets or items containing ferro-magnetic material[/color]
[/list]

AFAICS that excludes pretty much every bass guitar, amplifier and speaker cab.

[Geek99]

I said this in response to neepheids point
In law you have to have crossed the Ts if you want the judge to find in your favour, or be lucky

[toneknob]

I missed it, but it's repeated on C4 on Friday 3 May, 2:15am. (And on C4+1 an hour later)

[NJE]

I have had one really bad experience with posting gear, I sent an Aggie cab and whoever 'handled' it obviouly dropped it so hard the front baffle warped and smashed the tweater. Luckily I deal with a broker called P4D, I called them before hand and explained exactly what I was sending and asked specifically if there were any restrictions. I took the name of the person I spoke to (she was very nice) and had a phonecall to quote incase they tried to pull a fast one. I also insured it for the price of a brand new replacement not what I sold it for and this was only a minor up-charge.

I took pictures of the parcel before hand and also the recipient of the can took pictures when he unwrapped it. I called P4D, emailed them photos and a complete explanation of what had happened and what had been broken and they went off and sorted the whole thing out for me, relatively hassle free. I got all of the money back, and offered the buyer a complete refund. He was happy just to have new tweater which I paid for from the refund.....everyone is happy!!

The moral of the story.....take pictures, wrap it well and deal with a good company and actually talk to them. I use specific couriers now who I really do trust, and avoid Royal Mail, Parcel Force, City Link at all costs.

[Geek99]

City link have just been sold for a pound after 5 straight years of losses

[Stacker]

Parcelforce does not offer any additional insurance on musical instruments and I only found that out by accident a couple of years ago when a Gibbo 335 I shipped to Spain went missing. It was eventually found sitting in a cage in an unused area of a warehouse. Check the 'Fragile' list of this link and remember the list:-

[url="http://www.parcelforce.com/help-information/compensation-refunds-and-claims/items-we-exclude-compensation"]Exclusions[/url]

IMO, those guys at UK Mail should be identified and sacked, if they haven't been already. What a shocking way to treat people's property, people who are, in effect, paying their wages! And I wasn't surprised to see evidence of petty theft taking place with regard to the bottles of fizz.

In the industry's defence, though I must say that I never saw anything like that going when I did some agency work for a large UK courier firm back in the '90s. I was often there in the evening when the bulk deliveries came up from Coventry and all the ops on the sorting conveyor treated the items with care. And the full-time couriers all seemed to be concientious.

I'll count myself lucky in that I've never had to claim on courier damage. Anyone got any real horror stories?

Edited April 30, 2013 by Stacker

[Telebass]

Oh yes...
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/203704-courier-disaster/page__hl__courier%20disaster"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/203704-courier-disaster/page__hl__courier%20disaster[/url]

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1367308234' post='2063856']
Recorded, will watch soon. Not surprised by anything I saw in the ad. That's why I make my parcels as bombproof as I can. The trick as far as I'm concerned is to make sure nothing moves inside the box, all padded out to hell with as much soft stuff as I can pack in without risking bursting the box.

Don't skimp on insurance either, and check all the small print for exclusions.

But don't be scared of sending stuff. I live in the sticks and need people not to be scared of sending basses otherwise my GAS will cause an explosion I've sent and received probably approaching 25 basses without incident. I'd like to have seen them try to kick my Victory Artist about the depot - they'd break a toe
[/quote]

Agreed!

I usually find a box the a couple of inches longer that the item, them pack it either end with polystyrene, then create a layer of paper, or maybe 2 depending on how deep the box is, then set one of those soft plastic sheets inside, and wrap the item up in it, then I fill the rest out with paper. As much as possible, and I try to get the item to sit dead centre in the box, and tape it up well for added security.

I live in the sticks too, I can't really afford not to trust couriers. I've had no issues with Parcel Force or Royal Mail for delivering stuff.

[bobbass4k]

[quote name='Perry' timestamp='1367307473' post='2063845']
It showed just how badly our parcels are treated.
[/quote]

Correction, it shows how badly parcels are treated at one depot of one company. Treating it as a microcosm of the entire courier industry is a little unfair.

[hamfist]

This confirms my policy for me. I never use their insurance, as there are so many exclusions to payouts and that they will wriggle and squirm their way out of a claim however they can, so the money you pay can be absolutely worthless. I must have saved literally thousands this way as I guess I must have sent at least a hundred guitars/basses/amps/cabs with couriers over the years.
I take responsibility for packing the item bomb-proof myself. If there is damage I will cover it myself. However I have never had an item I have sent damaged by a courier.
I will continue using them, as it opens up the whole of the UK and Europe to me as a market to sell gear. But I will also continue to pack items to withstand very heavy handling. It can be done.

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1367388268' post='2064921']
This confirms my policy for me. I never use their insurance, as there are so many exclusions to payouts and that they will wriggle and squirm their way out of a claim however they can, so the money you pay can be absolutely worthless. I must have saved literally thousands this way as I guess I must have sent at least a hundred guitars/basses/amps/cabs with couriers over the years.
I take responsibility for packing the item bomb-proof myself. If there is damage I will cover it myself. However I have never had an item I have sent damaged by a courier.
I will continue using them, as it opens up the whole of the UK and Europe to me as a market to sell gear. But I will also continue to pack items to withstand very heavy handling. It can be done.
[/quote]

Yup, same here, except I haven't sent that many things.

The only thing is, making parcels bombproof takes time. What you are selling commercially needs to make enough profit to cover the extra time spent packing (with packaging materials). But I suppose that's offset by the lack of insurance. But you see the way they are throwing around parcels, it just takes one fool to throw it, and it land wrong, and you've got half a bass and a set of strings.

[Cat Burrito]

I just watched it on 4od. No real surprises & I think once Royal Mail are finally sold off we'll have a lot more problems with mail delivery to look forward to. Better the devil you know?

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1367408230' post='2065201']
I just watched it on 4od. No real surprises & I think once Royal Mail are finally sold off we'll have a lot more problems with mail delivery to look forward to. Better the devil you know?
[/quote]

I've never had much problem with Royal Nail or Parcel Force. In fact, the most problem i've had is their parcel pricing system and how nobody can actually work it, but I hardly use it at all. If i'm sending a parcel, I normally get Parcel Force to collect.

[stoker]

I saw it last night and I was shocked.